WPBN-TV

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WPBN-TV / WTOM-TV
WPBN: Traverse City/Cadillac, Michigan WTOM: Cheboygan/Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan
Branding	TV 7&4 7&4 News
Slogan	Coverage You Can Count On
Channels	WPBN: 7 (VHF) WTOM: 4 (VHF) analog, WPBN: 50 (UHF) WTOM: 35 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	NBC WPBN DT2: The Tube WPBN DT3: NBC Weather Plus
Owner	Barrington Broadcasting
Founded	WPBN: February 6, 1954 WTOM: January 4, 1959
Call letters meaning	WPBN: Paul Bunyan Network WTOM: Top Of Michigan
Former affiliations	ABC (secondary, 1954-1971)
Transmitter Power	WPBN: 316 kW Analog 78 kW Digital WTOM: 100 kW Analog 78 kW Digital
Website	tv7-4.com

WPBN-TV is the NBC affiliate serving the Traverse City / Cadillac / Sault Sainte Marie (Northern Michigan) television market, the largest geographic (land mass) television market east of the Mississippi River. The station is licensed to Traverse City and has studios on M-72 in nearby Elmwood Township. WPBN broadcasts an analog signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter located 12 miles west of Cadillac in Wexford County. It broadcast a digital signal on UHF channel 50 from a transmitter located at the station's studios.

Like other network affiliates in this vast and largely rural area, the station operates a satellite station, WTOM-TV, which is licensed to Cheboygan and serves the tip of the Northern Lower Peninsula and the Eastern Upper Peninsula. WTOM broadcasts an analog signal on VHF channel 4 and a digital signal on UHF channel 35 from a transmitter located on US-23 five miles east of Cheboygan. WTOM's signals can be picked up as far as Brevort, Petoskey, Pickford, and Indian River. It is a full-time simulcast of WPBN. Channel 4 also serves as the NBC affiliate for the Alpena television market.

Together, the two stations, known on-air as "TV 7&4", serve 22 counties in the Northern Lower Peninsula, three counties in the Eastern Upper Peninsula and portions of Northern Ontario including Sault Ste. Marie's Canadian sister city, Sault Ste. Marie (though not on cable, where Shaw Communications replaced 7&4 with Detroit's NBC affiliate WDIV in the early 2000s).

Contents 1 Digital Programming 2 History 3 Newscasts 4 News Staff 5 External links

[edit] Digital Programming

WPBN's digital signal, in addition to its own programming on DT1, offers two additional channels. On WPBN DT2 is The Tube, a 24-hour music video channel. On WPBN DT3 is NBC Weather Plus, a 24-hour local and national weather channel. The Tube and NBC Weather Plus can also be seen on Charter digital cable systems in Traverse City and Cadillac. The Tube is on channel 200 and NBC Weather Plus is on channel 201.

Channel	Programming
7.1 / 50.1	main WPBN programming (NBC)
7.2 / 50.2	The Tube
7.3 / 50.3	NBC Weather Plus

Although WTOM is a straight simulcast of WPBN, its digital signal does not offer The Tube or NBC Weather Plus over-the-air. [1] Also, Charter digital cable systems in Cheboygan do not offer the two channels.

[edit] History

WPBN began broadcasting on February 6, 1954. It was signed on by Les Biederman, who had established WTCM-AM 1400 (now 580), the oldest radio station in the Northern Lower Peninsula, in 1940. Over the next decade, he bought or signed on several other AM stations throughout Northern Michigan. These stations were known as the Paul Bunyan Network, with WTCM as the flagship station. Since channel 7 covered much of the territory covered by the radio stations, Biederman decided not to call his new station WTCM-TV (for Traverse City, Michigan), but rather WPBN-TV (for Paul Bunyan Network).

In the 1950s, the FCC ruled that the eastern half of the Upper Peninsula was part of the Traverse City / Cadillac television market. At the time, the only television station in that area had been a CBC private affiliate CJIC-TV. Since WPBN was already operating at the maximum power allowed, Biederman signed on WTOM-TV in Cheboygan on January 4, 1959, bringing American television to the Eastern Upper Peninsula for the first time. At that time, the two stations became known collectively as "TV 7&4". When WTOM first began broadcasting, the two stations had their own newscasts, but in recent years WTOM became a full-time satellite of WPBN.

Until 1971, WPBN & WTOM shared ABC programming with the area's CBS affiliate WWTV & WWUP. TV 7&4 aired ABC's sports programming on the weekends, while WWTV & WWUP aired some of ABC's game shows and soap operas. In 1971, WGTU signed on and took the ABC affiliation.

In 1980, Midwest Broadcasting, the Biederman family's company, wanted to expand their broadcast operations in Northern Michigan. However, the FCC told the Biedermans that they could do so only if they sold off some stations to stay under ownership limits. One of the stations sold off was WPBN & WTOM, which was sold to US Tobacco.

Until recently, the station was owned by Raycom Media. In late 2005, following Raycom's purchase of The Liberty Corporation, Raycom announced that TV 7&4 would be sold, along with another NBC affiliate in the Upper Peninsula, WLUC-TV in Marquette. The sale was necessary to help meet federal restrictions on station ownership.

On March 27, 2006, Raycom announced that Barrington Broadcasting would acquire 12 Raycom stations, including WPBN & WTOM. The FCC approved the deal in June of 2006, and the finalization took place on August 12, 2006. At that point, TV 7&4 joined WLUC, Saginaw's NBC affiliate WEYI and, to a degree, Toledo's NBC affiliate WNWO as part of Barrington's family of stations in and around the state of Michigan.

WPBN & WTOM operate 24/7, but airs home shopping programs overnight instead of NBC's "Up All Night" shows. However, the station recently dropped Saturday night broadcasts of The Tube in favor of "Up All Night" reruns of Saturday Night Live.

[edit] Newscasts

WPBN & WTOM have long been second in the news ratings in the market according to Nielsen Media Research behind WWTV & WWUP. The WPBN & WTOM newscasts, which are known as "7&4 News", has seen significant growth in viewership at the expense of 9&10 News in every timeslot in which they compete against each other especially over the last three years. Much like WWTV & WWUP, the quality of the WPBN & WTOM news department is much higher than expected for a station in the 113th market. The station's personalities include longtime anchors and reporters such as Dave Fortin, Dave Walker, Greg MacMaster, Adam Bartelmay, Marc Schollett and Diana Fairbanks. Dave Fortin has been a reporter at the station since 1964.

The station has many alumni, including weatherman Dave Barrons and news anchor Scott Michael Trager, who both went to WWTV & WWUP in the early 1990s, and the immortal "Deputy" Don Melvoin, who first hosted the "Deputy Don" kids show in the 1950s. After a stint in Hollywood that included roles on The Twilight Zone and a movie filmed on Mackinac Island called Somewhere in Time, Melvoin came back to WPBN & WTOM to do Deputy Don Rides Again and the legendary horror flick host Count Zappula. He died in 2002.

In recent years, the station has acquired popular syndicated programs such as Dr. Phil and The Oprah Winfrey Show, giving the station a line-up that has contributed to the strong growth in its early evening newscasts. The station also airs Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! in early primetime.

Weekdays

• 7&4 News Today (5:30 to 7 AM)
• 7&4 News at 5 (5 to 6 PM)
• 7&4 News at 6 (6 to 6:30 PM)
• 7&4 News at 11 (11 to 11:35 PM)

Weekends

• 7&4 News at 6 (6 to 6:30 PM)
• 7&4 News at 11 (11 to 11:30 PM)

[edit] News Staff

Anchors

• Mornings:
  • Dave Walker
  • Stacey Skrysak
• 5 PM:
  • Adam Bartelmay
  • Kristin Maciorowski
• 6 and 11 PM:
  • Diana Fairbanks
  • Marc Schollett
• Weekends:
  • Bill Froehlich

7&4 News Storm Team Meteorologists

• Greg MacMaster - Chief
• Joe Charlevoix
• Jayne Smith

Sports

• Jayson Geiser
• Loren Knaster

Reporters

• Jessica Leffler
• Jake Peterson
• Lisa Chavarria
• Rachel Melnick
• Erin Ovalle
• Jenn Carlson

[edit] External links

• Station Website
• NBC Website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WPBN
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WTOM